The present invention relates to bearing assemblies and, in particular, to a safety end cap for a bearing housing.
Rotary shafts are generally mounted such that their ends are rotatably mounted in respective rotary bearings such as ball bearings, roller bearings, etc. For example, with reference to FIG. 4, a bearing 18 is mounted in an opening 14 of a bearing housing 10 of a conventional pillow block. A shaft end (not shown) would project through the bearing. In order to prevent personnel working near the shaft from being injured by the end of the rotating shaft, it is conventional to cover the shaft end by means of a safety end cap mounted on the bearing housing. One conventional type of end cap 10 shown in FIG. 5 is in the form of a plastic cup-shaped body that is attached to the housing so as to overlie the opening thereof and enclose the respective shaft end. The end cap 19 is inserted into a circular cavity 20 of the housing and includes integral stop tabs 21 that abut a front face 22 of the housing 10, and integral locking tabs 23 located at a front rim 24 of the end cap to secure the end cap within the recess 20 However, such end caps are susceptible to becoming removed from the housing, either intentionally, or accidentally, e.g., if a person should accidentally bump against the end cap. In that event, there arises a risk of injury since the rotatable shaft end is now exposed.
It is an object of the invention to minimize or obviate the above-described problem.